NAPC is one of the partners in the new Community Indicators Consortium (CIC). 

CIC's first major project was an international conference on indicators in Reno in March 2004. 

A Snapshot of Community Indicators Development
The Association for Community Health Improvement has announced the release of a Community Indicators Report that presents a snapshot of community indicators' development, use and impact across a range of topics, by weaving together presentation summaries from the Community Indicators Conference held in March 2004 in Reno, Nevada.  The document defines community indicators broadly as systems of measure pertaining to the quality of community life, and focuses on health-related indicators initiatives. It also provides links to the Community Indicators Consortium's new web site and its member organizations.  The report 

Summer 2005 -- Below are key excerpts from the CIC steering committee's report following the June 7th planning session.  (NAPC President Mary Louis Campbell represents NAPC on the CIC Steering Committee.)

January 2005 -- new Community Indicators Consortium website and e-newsletter

May 2005 -- CIC and NAPC join forces to plan a joint CONFERENCE -- May 12-14, 2005, in Washington, DC

December 2005 -- CIC Conference in Vermont (NAPC was a co-sponsor)
 

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June 2005 -- Dear Reno Community Indicators Conference Participant:

 

On behalf of the organizers of the event, thanks for your time, participation, and energy regarding this effort.  We believe, based on your feedback, that our first goal was accomplished:  to offer a top-notch conference experience.

 

Our second goal, to launch the Community Indicators Consortium (CIC) as a follow-up vehicle from the conference, is just beginning to be accomplished, and the purpose of this message is to bring you up to date and to solicit your active participation in CIC's activities.

The Reno conference closed with a planning meeting to guide the development of CIC.  The excitement generated in Reno about starting up this movement led to three immediate tasks:  1) a survey to evaluate the conference by all who attended, 2) a survey of the original CIC organizational partners about future directions for CIC, and 3) a day-long planning meeting to develop more specific goals and action plans for the future of CIC.  With guidance by an ad-hoc planning group working by e-mail and teleconference, all three have been accomplished successfully.

 

The planning meeting was convened in Washington, DC on June 7, with 20 people attending, including representatives of many of the original CIC organizations and additional organizations and individuals.  The work of this group was informed and guided by the results of the two surveys and by additional feedback received during the conference.  Major results of the meeting were adoption of a statement of mission, roles, and principles to guide CIC, and establishment of three working groups to begin addressing major proposed functions for CIC.
 

Community Indicators Consortium
Mission, Roles, and Principles

Mission

Indicators are valuable tools for understanding community conditions, trends, opportunities for improvements, public policy and program impacts, and progress towards desired outcomes. The Community Indicators Consortium seeks to:

 advance the art and science of the development and application of community indicators
 encourage development and facilitate effective use of community indicators across the globe

Roles:

 learning network (role internal to the indicators community)
 education and promotion (role external to the indicators community)

Participants: anyone with an interest in community indicators. For instance, participants may include:

 staff from individual local, state, national, or international organizations (e.g., a community foundation, a community indicators project, a state university research center, a federal statistical agency);
 representatives from member-based trade and professional associations (e.g., Alliance for Regional Stewardship) and networks (e.g., International Sustainability Indicators Network); and
 individuals representing themselves only (e.g., independent consultants, professors, students).

Operating principles:

 Open participation: CIC is an open learning network, that is, participation is available to any person or organization with an interest in community indicators
 Collaboration: CIC-sponsored activities are carried out collaboratively, with contributed effort from various parties in the network. The benefits of a collaborative approach include the leveraging of existing staff capacity, development of consensus, encouragement of creativity, and relationship-building.
 Non-duplication: CIC aims to enhance, not replace or replicate, the work of participating individuals, associations, organizations, and networks.
 Facilitation: CIC promotes the development of independent, unmediated connections among its wide range of participants. Such relationships are a boon to information sharing, problem-solving, and creativity.
 Access to learning: CIC provides mechanisms through which participants can gain access to the learning of others.
Structure follows function: The structure of CIC is determined through the process of identifying specific collaborative functions and organizing to carry them out.

 

Working Groups:

COMMUNICATIONS:  establishing and maintaining vehicles for communication among all those interested/involved in community indicators work and participating in CIC.  The initial task will be to develop a CIC website.  The content and capacity of the website will take shape based on the work of the other three work groups.  Amy Carrier (amy@regionalstewardship.org) is

taking the initial lead toward identifying a website host and starting up the process of developing a website for CIC communication.

 

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE:  facilitating provision of a broadly defined clearinghouse of information/knowledge about community indicators work in its many aspects, beginning with an inventory of indicator projects.  Amy Carrier (amy@egionalstewardship.org) is taking the initial lead toward identifying an architecture and taxonomy for the knowledge exchange, while Jeff Elder (jeff.elder@uwa.unitedway.org) is making contacts with a few other available inventories to explore partnership opportunities.

 

RESEARCH:  facilitating opportunities for research and providing access to research that furthers the science and art of community indicators work, beginning by participation in reviewing the forthcoming preliminary draft research agenda on indicator systems by GAO.  Ken Jones (kjones@gmied.org) is facilitating a process of gathering feedback from those involved in CIC,

compiling a joint CIC response, and providing liaison with GAO.  The draft is expected to be available in August, and CIC will have about two weeks to review and comment.

 

EDUCATION and TRAINING:  facilitating opportunities for education and training that further the practice of community indicators work, beginning by developing a strategy to facilitate development of a training curriculum for indicator development, use, and implementation, building on existing best practices, models, and other available information.  A first step will be to develop an updated community indicators handbook or how-to manual on conducting community indicators projects successfully.  Odette Ramos (odette@bnia.org) is taking the lead and is the initial contact person for this effort.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN AND/OR HAVE EXPERTISE/RESOURCES TO ASSIST WITH ANY OR ALL OF THESE EFFORTS, HERE IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED AND HELP OUT by contacting any of the contact people listed above. 

THANK YOU for your interest and your active participation in making CIC a viable resource for all of us working on community indicators.

 

The CIC Ad-Hoc Planning/Steering Committee:  Andrew Reamer; Allen Lomax; Ken Jones; Donovan Lee-Sin; Amy L. Carrier; Bob Stroh; Jeff Elder; Odette Ramos; Charlotte Kahn; Michael Bilton; Don Rahtz; Joe Sirgy; David Swain
 

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For recent updates:  Community Indicators Consortium website and e-newsletter